The present invention relates generally to the field of data processing, and more particularly to data security and determination of access rights.
Businesses store client account information on a centralized server, specifically client identifiers (usernames and/or passwords). In the event an individual achieves unauthorized access to a location in which client identifiers are stored, all client accounts are compromised. There have been many examples of this in recent times, from banks to multinational businesses to social networks. In some of these events, the businesses had even taken the security step of performing hash functions on stored data. The exposure for these companies arose out of the centralized nature of client identification storage. That is, gaining unauthorized access to one location (the server) allowed unauthorized access to all client accounts.